Both 4" Screens Have Died and Blacked Out??? - MAJOR UPDATES & VIDEO NOW ADDED

[Dreamss]

Wow, after thinking I was one of the "lucky" ones to have no problems yet with my car, after 4000 KM's it has finally caught up to me

Car is a 2011 Limited, built around the last week of October.

 

While out driving last night, everything was running fine until I stopped into a store to pick something up. When I got back in and started it up, all started up fine but my 2 4" LCD screens on either side of the speedometer would not turn on anymore.

 

I was about 45 minutes away home when this happened so basically started going home beyond mad and about 5 minutes into my drive they came back on...temporarily that is. They came on, and then turned right off. They continued to go on and off, on and off, for about 10 minutes and then started flickering at times and eventually would not come back on anymore. Each time they came back on you could tell it was resetting itself like I was just turning on the car, it wasn't like it had kept the memory and just came back on e.g. like a light was burnt or something.

I got about 3 blocks from my house and it finally came back on.

I had my Iphone 4 with me while it was happening so i recorded about 5 minutes of it doing this but it was late out and on highway with no lights, it's a little dark.

 

Funny, when it would come back on during the flickering, not all "functions" seemed to be working correctly e.g. 2 degree difference from main 8" screen compared to 4" and stuff like no info as to what i was listening to on Serious Radio even though the info was there on the 8". When it came back on for good towards the end, everything was back to normal and was matching the 8" screen.

 

Today, hoping it was a once in a lifetime fluke, I got in the car to pick my daughter up from daycare and all was working fine....for the first 20 minutes. I got to my location, left the car running as I went to pick up the little one and when I got back, they were dead again and stayed off the entire ride back home

 

Oddly enough, I did the Gen 2 V2.4 last Tuesday so just over a week ago today, along with the test for the faulty body module that was also recalled.

 

Was hoping to see what the remedies are for this before I call back the dealer so that I can tell them of people it has already happened to and how it was fixed.

 

I am fearing now that my 8" screen is going to crash and that's all I need now in the dead of winter.

 

Thanks in advance for any help!!

Tony

Edited February 6, 2011 by Dreamss

[wilsons66604]

Wow, after thinking I was one of the "lucky" ones to have no problems yet with my car, after 4000 KM's it has finally caught up to me

Car is a 2011 Limited, built around the last week of October.

 

While out driving last night, everything was running fine until I stopped into a store to pick something up. When I got back in and started it up, all started up fine but my 2 4" LCD screens on either side of the odometer would not turn on anymore.

 

I was about 45 minutes away home when this happened so basically started going home beyond mad and about 5 minutes into my drive they came back on...temporarily that is. They came on, and then turned right off. They continued to go on and off, on and off, for about 10 minutes and then started flickering at times and eventually would not come back on anymore. Each time they came back on you could tell it was resetting itself like I was just turning on the car, it wasn't like it had kept the memory and just came back on e.g. like a light was burnt or something.

I got about 3 blocks from my house and it finally came back on.

I had my Iphone 4 with me while it was happening so i recorded about 5 minutes of it doing this but it was late out and on highway with no lights, it's a little dark.

 

Funny, when it would come back on during the flickering, not all "functions" seemed to be working correctly e.g. 2 degree difference from main 8" screen compared to 4" and stuff like no info as to what i was listening to on Serious Radio even though the info was there on the 8". When it came back on for good towards the end, everything was back to normal and was matching the 8" screen.

 

Today, hoping it was a once in a lifetime fluke, I got in the car to pick my daughter up from daycare and all was working fine....for the first 20 minutes. I got to my location, left the car running as I went to pick up the little one and when I got back, they were dead again and stayed off the entire ride back home

 

Oddly enough, I did the Gen 2 V2.4 last Tuesday so just over a week ago today, along with the test for the faulty body module that was also recalled.

 

Was hoping to see what the remedies are for this before I call back the dealer so that I can tell them of people it has already happened to and how it was fixed.

 

I am fearing now that my 8" screen is going to crash and that's all I need now in the dead of winter.

 

Thanks in advance for any help!!

Tony

Wow this is an oddity! I did have the right screen go stupid once. It showed navigation heading, footer, & color but contents were audio.

A fuse 29 pull helped it out

This was all pre- 2.4 upfdate

[Dreamss]

LOL Wilsons,

 

If you haven't seen or read of this, then it must be an oddity!

 

Did my day care run this morning and not it will not come back on at all. Just got off the phone with the dealer and they haven't seen this problem yet either.

 

They need me to take the car in to them so I will do my best to do so after traffic dies down tonight around 7:30pm and leave it for them tomorrow morning.

 

This is a huge inconvenience as I need my car to get to and from the day care twice a day my only means of transport.

 

They wont even give me a car at no charge as they say I needed to buy the extended warranty to be eligible for this

 

Wow, let the problems begin

[GatorCat]

Yikes. This sounds like a hardware problem.

 

When you had the 2.4 update done, did they replace your APIM module or just do the software?

 

I'm starting to think that there are two sets of issues - one is a software item with all the regular bugs we see. The second is a hardware problem which causes those catastrophic failures.

 

I think my hardware is good but have some problems with the software.

 

I'm getting the 2.4 update tomorrow so we'll see. It is certainly plausible that a person could have a software problem then coincidentally end up with a hardware failure that would have happened regardless of the software.

[Dumpy]

"Flickering" - Possibly a grounding issue???

[Dreamss]

Sorry for not answering guys, I'm out and on my iPhone seeing the replies.

 

I took a video with my camera, will try to upload somewhere as well.

 

Will post back later tonight.

Edited February 4, 2011 by Dreamss

[Dreamss]

Yikes. This sounds like a hardware problem.

 

When you had the 2.4 update done, did they replace your APIM module or just do the software?

 

I'm starting to think that there are two sets of issues - one is a software item with all the regular bugs we see. The second is a hardware problem which causes those catastrophic failures.

 

I think my hardware is good but have some problems with the software.

 

I'm getting the 2.4 update tomorrow so we'll see. It is certainly plausible that a person could have a software problem then coincidentally end up with a hardware failure that would have happened regardless of the software.

 

No, I did not change out the APIM, it just went in for the 10B20 Recall that most people are getting done, like the upgrade you are doing tomorrow. Honestly, after getting it done, I didn't see any difference besides I finally have my Navigation in KM instead of Miles. Other than that, mine is still really slow. I agree, I also think there are 2 big issues people are dealing with, either hardware, or software, or both, but I definitely think they are separate issues all together.

 

 

"Flickering" - Possibly a grounding issue???

 

Well, flickering may have been the wrong choice of words on my part possibly...it would go on and off every 30 seconds or so, and the intervals would change from a few minutes to a few seconds before it completely died. Flickering makes me think of very fast / rapid on / offs and it wasn't like that. Grounding issue, not so sure, it looking like the module was just dying out slowly until it finally crashed and died.

 

Well, it has not come back on in 2 days, and I took a little video of it not working which I am in the midst of uploading but it's so damn slow! I will also try to upload the video from my iphone showing the on / off happening which I also have footage of.

 

Didn't make it to the dealer tonight, will be there at 7am tomorrow and leaving the car there for the day. I hope it stays off so they can see the problem first hand and figure out why it won’t turn on rather than it come on by fluke and them not know what to do next since it's working again.

 

If video finishes uploading soon, i will post it later, if not, it will be tommorow.

 

I'll keep everyone up to date as I find out the details of the repair.

 

Tony

[Dreamss]

Tried uploading the video last night, it crashed almost at the very end and did not take, will try again after work.

 

Brought car into dealer this morning and they came out to look at it with me. The screens were still dead and the Speedometer is freezing when it does it's "reset" upon start up. When you start the car, the needle goes all the way up and once it touches the max speed it comes strait back down immediately. Since my screen black out, the needle gets to the max speed and freezes there for anywhere from 20 seconds up to a minute. The dealer also so this so they are aware of the issues right now.

 

Saw 2 techs there and they have yet to see this happen to any of their Edge's so this seems to be a first..just my luck lol.

 

Will keep everyone posted!

 

Tony

[Dreamss]

Ok,

 

So, after I left, they took my Edge in right away to get started on it. About 2 hours later, I got a call from the dealer and it started like this "Tony...I don't have good news for you..."

I told him, don't worry, I already know, just tell me how long before it's fixed.

 

He went over the conversation he had with tech support and their "email" correspondence and man was he in disbelief. Not only is the 8" screen full of crap with its bug, freezes, reboots, slowness and all the other crap people have been experiencing, then the V2.4 update to try and resolve them, now the 2 4" LCD screens are starting to crap out on A LOT of Edge's, MKX's, and Explorers!!!!! My dealer has not seen this yet, but from what he told me, the issue is huge and Ford is seeing it happen more and more, you just don't know when it's going to be your turn!

 

Personally, I don't want this car anymore, I am ready to give it up and move on. Is it a lemmon, prob not, but the software is no where even close to being ready for release and there is to much risk in owning this car with the programation being this untested and unstable. I am calling Ford on Monday and the next call will be consumer protection to see what my rights are. Why you ask...

 

I have no access to how much gas I have, I don't know if my car is overheating, I don't know if there are any "warnings" or messages on the LCD screen. I was driving in the middle of the night and my entire car went BLACK! I have a 2 year old baby in the car with me each day and each time I start my car now, I worry something is going to happen.

 

Here's the kicker boys and girls, I was told that I need to continue driving my car LIKE THIS, even though it's not ideal, and for me personally, not safe, and I was told that it could take as long as JUNE for a fix AND NO RENTAL CAR!!!!!!!! Ford is fully 150% aware of the problem and won’t pull these cars off the road, it could happen to anyone at anytime, they know that, acknowledge that, and are letting people drive these things! I almost drove from Montreal to Florida last week and if this happened when I just showed up there, I don't know what I would have done.

 

Don't get me wrong, i adore my car, love it to death, but am sick to my stomach over everything going on so far. MY first new car, very expensive, and i have yet to feel confident about my purchase. That is a terrible feeling.

 

Here are some documents I received from my dealer today, sit back and enjoy!!!!!

 

Photo 1:

 

The work order placed at 7am this morning - this is what the problems are and what we are looking to fix

 

Edited February 5, 2011 by Dreamss

[Dreamss]

Next,

 

After not being able to resolve the problem and speaking with Ford directly on the phone, it continued via email so to speak and this is the lovely conversation:

** Some info deleted for confidentiality**

 

Edited February 5, 2011 by Dreamss

[Dreamss]

Lastly,

 

A service bulletin issued on Feb 2nd, 2011, 1 day after my car died acknowledging the problem.

 

They will need to change the entire cluster eventually!!! WTF?!?!?! Recall....AGAIN!!!

 

Edited February 5, 2011 by Dreamss

[marc4sgr]

wow, that is unreal.

well if you dont want the car you easily have a lemon law case.

[Dreamss]

Well, that's what I am going to start looking into on Monday with consumer protection and see where it takes me.

 

I love the Edge, still my favorite truck on market right now, rides great, looks amazing, and the interior is stunning. However, the new Touch is flawed, defective and unreliable and when the cars continue to die where access to heating o fuel, temperature or warnings are going out, we have a problem. Ford knows about the problem and must have tons of complaints on hand with this new problem to issue an advisory.

 

If I left on my planned vacation and this happened, I'd be 2400 km's away from home with no access to fuel levels or even knowing any important info / problems pertaining to the car...if this could happened, who knows what problems could have happened driving in 12 hour batches strait and me not being go see it.

 

I am pissed off, yes, but I love the Edge, I just don't want this flawed 2011, I would rather wait until the problems are fixed this year an get a 2012 with most of the mess cleaned up not people ripping my dash apart to replaces broken clusters, body modules and software upgrades constantly.

 

Do I really have a case?

 

Why are they not pulling these cars off the road when entire dashes are blanking out for tons of people at any given time and it's obviously dangerous.

[akirby]

Why are they not pulling these cars off the road when entire dashes are blanking out for tons of people at any given time and it's obviously dangerous.

 

I think you're overreacting just a bit. There were some early software flaws that have been fixed and SOME hardware problems.

 

It sounds like you have a bad APIM. Once it's replaced you should be fine. I don't think the intermittent problem mentioned in the Ford documents is your problem.

[Dreamss]

Maybe pulling ALL the Edges off the roads is a little much, but not by a lot. Anyway you look at it, hardware issues are dangerous, regardless of what it is. There is important info that gets displayed on this cluster and for that to be completely gone is a safety hazard. The 8" screen holds mainly Navi, Radio, Phone, I could live without that and not feel like the car is at risk, granted the climate controls being lost would piss me off but I would still have them for defrost, temp and speed below the screen.

 

The cluster is a different story, this doesn't display non essential features (ok maybe the right side but Im talking about the left one mainly), it stores key features to the functionality of your car, and Ive now lost all of that, so Im not sure if Im over reacting since there wont be a fix earlier than April - May, latest June. Would you drive you car worrying about when you should stop to fill up on gas? Always wondering what your level is at and stopping for gas just to fill up to make sure youre not lower than you think you are? Maybe my 4 hour drives on the weekend will more entertaining when we all play the guessing game and take turns guessing how long before the car will stall from running out of gas?

 

I spoke to the tech reg. the APIM, I know it been a common problem on this forum and i spoke to him about what Ive read here and so forth, but that has always been geared more towards the 8" module that was crapping out on people. After he looked into the possibility of it being a faulty APIM, and speaking with Ford techs, he was assured that it was not related to the APIM and that this is a totally different problem all together. They know how to fix the 8" screen break down, simply change the APIM, this they don't know what is causing it and why they are failing.

 

Even people here are not seeing this issue (yet) and it seems fairly new, at least to me, the folks on here, and my dealer. For the bulletin to come out this week, it has to be an issue that has started recently and getting much attention.

 

The bulletin was released this week, again detailing the exact problem I have so yes it is the same problem I have, and as per the memo, unlike changing the APIM in the 8" screens which fixed the problem, it says that changing the cluster will NOT resolve the problem as they have obviously tried this already and from the bulletin, I gather they are all faulty since they say switching the cluster will not resolve this problem.

 

The problem is properly identified, and no one will even attempt a fix until Ford finds what is causing this and how to deal with it, especially when the techs are telling the dealer not to touch anything right now, the dealer wont go against this and put them at fault.

Edited February 6, 2011 by Dreamss

[GatorCat]

I think you're overreacting just a bit. There were some early software flaws that have been fixed and SOME hardware problems.

 

It sounds like you have a bad APIM. Once it's replaced you should be fine. I don't think the intermittent problem mentioned in the Ford documents is your problem.

 

I don't agree...this doesn't seem like an overreaction, since Ford is specifically stating that replacing APIM is not advised.

 

I haven't seen anyone else with this dramatic of a problem, but if you really start to add up these various issues, there appears to be a class action lawsuit brewing.

 

Slow response, lack of BT audio is problematic but forgivable. Malfunctioning speedometers that cannot be fixed is a major safety concern. When was the last time anyone here had a new car that had a malfunctioning speedometer that couldn't be fixed?

 

Look at all the class action lawsuits regarding Apple and the quality of their materials (excessive scratching on iPods, easy breaking glass on iPhone). This is very troubling and is something we all need to stay abreast of.

[Dreamss]

I don't agree...this doesn't seem like an overreaction, since Ford is specifically stating that replacing APIM is not advised.

 

I haven't seen anyone else with this dramatic of a problem, but if you really start to add up these various issues, there appears to be a class action lawsuit brewing.

 

Slow response, lack of BT audio is problematic but forgivable. Malfunctioning speedometers that cannot be fixed is a major safety concern. When was the last time anyone here had a new car that had a malfunctioning speedometer that couldn't be fixed?

 

Look at all the class action lawsuits regarding Apple and the quality of their materials (excessive scratching on iPods, easy breaking glass on iPhone). This is very troubling and is something we all need to stay abreast of.

 

Thank you GatorCat, I share the same exact thoughts as you. You think I want to drive my car when the Speedo is stuck at 220km?!? I have to wait for it to come down when it finally decides to so I can put it in drive...what's next, the car accelerating by itself. I don't need this crap with my little girl in the car.

[akirby]

The bulletin states that cycling the ignition fixes the problem. You said that doesn't fix yours. If it's definitely not the APIM or software upgrade and your speedometer never works then I agree you should be given a new vehicle or a loaner vehicle to drive until yours can be fixed.

 

However, to suggest this is worthy of a class action lawsuit is ridiculous at this point.

 

I do hope you get yours fixed.

[Dreamss]

Here is one of the videos I have. Taken with Iphone Tuesday night. This is how it all started while i was driving in the car 45 minutes away from home on a highway with little to no lights.

 

It's been pretty much out since then.

 

Edited February 6, 2011 by Dreamss

[Dreamss]

The bulletin states that cycling the ignition fixes the problem. You said that doesn't fix yours. If it's definitely not the APIM or software upgrade and your speedometer never works then I agree you should be given a new vehicle or a loaner vehicle to drive until yours can be fixed.

 

However, to suggest this is worthy of a class action lawsuit is ridiculous at this point.

 

I do hope you get yours fixed.

 

akirby - as per the tech that spoke with Ford, cycling the key "could" and has fixed the problem in some cases but not all the time. In the cases that it has, I was told that it's temporary and that even if it would come back on, there is no guarantee for how long as it will eventually crash again until the initial problem causing this is fixed. It will help some people and others not, the dealer tried this, it worked for a little then crashed again.

 

The dealer was telling me how to cycle the key but then we got cut off by someone and we forgot about that conversation so I never got the instructions. He told me to try it if I wanted to. By the time I remembered to call him back about this, the dealer was closed and they aren't open on the weekends in Quebec.

 

What is cycling the key anyway and how do i do this? All we got to was leaving it on accessory mode then doing something before we were cut off.

 

Oh ya, the speedo technically works, it's just getting it to reset itself that is the problem...it tends to freeze upon start-up. Once it's down, it's fine.

[goatee]

I don't know where you live but if I were you, I would then look into your Lemon Laws or contact Ford to possibly arrange some sort of goodwill buyback. If you decide to envoke te lemon laws keep very careful and specific records. Follow the directions exactly to the letter. Your video was great. What I saw was rediculous.

Edited February 6, 2011 by goatee

[cirockets]

I think you're overreacting just a bit. There were some early software flaws that have been fixed and SOME hardware problems.

 

It sounds like you have a bad APIM. Once it's replaced you should be fine. I don't think the intermittent problem mentioned in the Ford documents is your problem.

 

Overreacting? Wow! Maybe pulling the cars off the road but not with frustration. I feel your pain and hope it works out well for you in the end.

[akirby]

What is cycling the key anyway and how do i do this?

 

Stop vehicle. Turn vehicle off. Restart vehicle.

[wstretton]

Hi Dreamms,

 

I have just signed in as I see no one else has been able to confirm that they are having the same issue as you.

 

My left 4" screen has been acting erratically since Jan 1, 2011. I tried to get it into the shop but work demands have not allowed it.

 

I could not see your video, but your description is vey much like what I am experiencing. It does not seem to matter if the car is started numerous times as to whether or not it will work.

 

I like you have some concerns, but my biggest concern is I cannot see the gas gauge. I fill up the car every couple of days to be on the safe side.

 

It has not been working at all for the last week, but driving in today it started to work fine again. Not sure why.

 

I will call the servicing dealer and see if they can get the car in this week to take a look at it and report back.

 

Bill

[wstretton]

Dreamss, as I stated before I would report back in with my issue.

 

Car was in last Fiday, and parts have been ordered to fix the problem with my left 4" display. Should take a week to order parts in. They are prety confident this should solve my "never seen that before" problem.

 

Also had the memory seat fixed, apparently there is a TSB on that and the SYNC updated to the latest version.

 

Interestingly enough, they did offer me a rental car as the concern is the gas gauge is a part of the left cluster. I did not think I needed it as I have not big trips planned in the near future and I just fill up with gas often as I have been doing since early January.

 

Will update when new parts are installed.

 

Bill